Thankful time of year

It's that time of year - The Holiday Season!!  And there is a holiday that falls between one of the darkest holidays and one of the brightest.  It's the holiday that involves turkey not candy or presents.  It's the holiday that is quickly disappearing.  Stores go from rows and rows of candy to rows and rows of Christmas trees and lights.  But I LOVE Thanksgiving also!  Even though my most favorite by a large margin is Christmas, I want to take the time this month to remember all that I have to be thankful for.  So this post is going to be an update and also a few reasons why I am so thankful this year.  

In my last post I explained about the unexpected journey we would be taking.  My daughter would be having another hip surgery to correct her hip dysplasia.  I would be dealing with a 5 year old in a cast while also going through my third trimester.  That was a hard time - I won't lie.  I was also dealing with severe back and hip pain.  I'm sure lifting a 5 year old in a body cast didn't help.  But my wonderful midwife referred me to a physical therapist, and she did wonders for my back/hip!  The last few weeks of my pregnancy were pain-free!!  Something I haven't experienced in my last several pregnancies.  I did learn that all of my pregnancies have caused my hips to be very unstable. 

Madison's surgery was at the end of June.  She asked for a purple cast with pink stripes.  This is what she got:

 I think they did great!  It's exactly what she wanted.  That smile on her face - it was almost always there!  I kid you not!  She was the happiest kid in a spica cast I've ever seen.  While she was in a cast we celebrated 4th of July.

 and we had VBS at church:

 That's me and my sweetie!  She was such a trooper!  She never complained about what she couldn't do.  She just made do, and was happy all the time.

And then the big day came - one month after her surgery, she came out of the cast:

We were so happy!!  She still needed the wheelchair b/c she couldn't walk on her leg for a while, and she would get tired when she did start walking.  But the cast was off!!  Yay!!!  

Then another big day came for our family.  The day we welcomed baby #6 into our family.  Mikenzie Grace was born in early August.  

Life as a family of 8 seems very similar to 7.  We are truly blessed!  And we are so happy with our large family.  Mikenzie is very happy baby.  In fact she's probably the best baby I've had.  She is a wonderful addition to our family.  

And then a few weeks later, we said goodbye to the wheelchair!  

This was truly a crazy summer.  I went through more than I thought I could, but I came out on the other side!  I took it one day at a time, leaned on my family and friends, and most importantly - stayed in constant contact with God!  

I have so much to be thankful for!  So this month I am going to focus on being Thankful!  

But after that - BRING ON CHRISTMAS!!!!!  

New year, new changes

So I am horrible at blogging.  It's just not something I think about doing.  But I'm going to make another attempt at it.  So here goes. :)

For starters a quick update on the kids - all are doing good.  The older 3 LOVE to read, and Conner even got a reading award pack from the OKC Thunder for his reading last month.  Everyone's doing well in school.  Madison will be joining them in the fall.  I can't believe she's ready for PreK already!!  Mikayla is growing like crazy!  The 4 oldest just started a new season of soccer.  Hard to believe it's soccer time again. 

We are still "attending" a church, but not as staff members.  This is so hard on Christopher.  He is called to be a minister.  He's a teacher.  And it's been a while since we were in a ministry position.  We thought we were going to be called to a church, but at the last minute things changed.  I was disappointed, but ultimately it's God's will we want to follow.  I know He will provide something else for us.  

I'm focusing on pouring myself into my home and family.  I believe this is God's call for me (well, for all married women with kids).  I believe it's His will for me to be the keeper of our home, and that's what I'm trying to do.  I read a wonderful book recently - Passionate Housewives Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald.  It really helped to put things in perspective for me.  I need to focus on God's role for my life and not what society says I should be.  I want to be "old-fashioned".  I want to be a homemaker - taking care of the kids and home (and *gasp* being submissive to my husband).  I have no problem being that parent that monitors what their kids read, watch, listen to, and play.  And yes, I seem strict to some people.  But that's ok.  I don't think my 10 year old needs to see PG 13 movies.  I believe it's my job to raise our kids the way I feel God wants them to be raised.  Maybe if more parents were parents and didn't give it to pressure the next generation wouldn't be in the shape it's in.  

Anyway, that's a quick recap of what's been going on around here. I hope to be able to blog more, but life with 5 kids, 4 puppies, a dog, and a hubby leaves little time for internet these days. 

Where did summer go?

I can't believe the kids start school next week!!  At the first of the summer that seemed so far away.  And when I found out I was pregnant, I didn't think September would ever get here.  And now it's too close!  I'm feeling very unprepared, and my babies tend to come early.  So I really need to get on the ball!  I'm almost 35 weeks and 2 of mine came at 37.  WOW!!  It's even scarier seeing it in print like that!  

Ok, so here's the update - kids are almost ready for school.  We have a few more supplies to pick up, but nothing major.  They still need backpacks, but they are very picky when it comes to those.  Guess that's why we still don't have them.  We will get those this weekend.  

Madi is already saying "I go to kool".  And I keep telling her she gets to stay home with mommy.  But she doesn't seem convinced that that's better than "kool".  But I know that once she is getting one-on-one time with me, she'll love it.  Just hope she doesn't mind sharing once baby sister gets here.

Baby M still doesn't have a name.  Christopher and I just can't agree.  But that's ok.  We usually don't.  Once we have the baby in our arms, the name just becomes obvious to both of us.  It drives the hospital staff crazy b/c they want a name right away.  I've even had them come in and say "you know you can't leave the hospital till the baby has a name, right?"  One lady even had the nerve to tell me she left at 5:00, and she needed a name before that.  UM, hello!!  I'm naming my kid here!  Something they will have the rest of their life.  I don't really care what time you get off work.  But that's beside the point.  Point is - no name yet, but that's normal for us. :)

I keep getting that "is this the last one?" question.  And my response - we just don't know.  When I was horribly sick with morning sickness, I was ready to send Christopher to get things "taken care of".  But going through my baby boy stuff makes me wish for another boy.  And I'm still not convinced it's a decision God wants us to make ourself.  I think He wants to determine our family size.  I know most people find that crazy, but that's just what my "spiritual gut" says.

We are still at the same church.  Christopher and I are both feeling like it's time to move on.  On paper it makes no sense for us to do that.  We would lose that income at a time when we can't afford to lose any income.  But when God tells you to do something, you do it.  He doesn't always make sense on paper.  That's why He's God.  

Other than that, life is pretty normal around here.  Potty training Madi.  Please don't ask how it's going. ;)  Just doing our daily stuff getting ready to get back to the school routine.  Hope everyone is well!  HUGS to all!! 

pregnancy and other fun stuff

Wow, I'm glad I don't get paid to blog b/c I would be living on the street. :) I'm not sure why it's so hard for me to get on here. But I've added a link to my toolbar, so maybe that will motivate me to do better. maybe...

Ok, biggest news - I'm pregnant!! Yes, again. And yes, this is #5. No, I can't say for sure this is the last one. Trust me, I've heard all the comments. So unless you are going to say "Congrats! That's wonderful news! You're such a great mom, you should have a dozen" or something along those lines, please zip it! I don't need any more "don't you know what causes that? You're a human, not a baby making machine!" or similar comments. Some people are just ignorant. How many kids I have is between me, my husband, and God. All others need not comment unless it is to tell us how happy you for us.

Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way - here are the details: due Sept 23 (but you know mine always come early), don't know the sex - yet. I have an u/s on Monday so hopefully we'll find out then. I hate it when they say "I think it's a ..." I want to know FOR SURE. They were "almost positive" Caleb was a girl. Well, he wasn't. So I'd rather them tell me for sure or not at all. No names picked out yet. Chris and I each have 3 favorites and we don't agree on the others' choices. So this could be fun. We did this with the others as well. We finally knew we had the right name when we both didn't hate it.

Madison is doing great! Her next hip check is in June. We just passed the 1 year mark since our journey began. Her ortho dr says she will be coming out of the brace in June, even though her socket is not deep yet. He did mention the possibility of another surgery, but I'm trying not to go there. I'm praying for God to deepen the socket, and that to be the end of it. She turned 2 last month, and is growing like crazy! Her vocabulary grows daily! She never ceases to amaze us. This week she gave up the "binkie". There were no tears shed (from either of us), so I think it was a good transition. So far, all of mine have been easy. *knock on wood* Now if we could just get her to tell us BEFORE she goes potty in her diaper, things would be awesome!

Megan - just turned 6! Can't believe it!! Miss Social Butterfly has been in trouble at school for talking - which is no surprise to me or her dad. She just seems to have a lot to say! ;) But academically she's doing great! So we can live with the rest. She has lost 1 tooth and has another loose one. She is so excited!

Conner is 7. He's doing great in school as well. They take reading tests (AR tests) whenever they have read a book, and Conner has gotten 100% on all of them except 1!! I am so proud of him! Looks like we have another reader on our hands. He is very discouraged by his sister's loss of teeth b/c he has yet to lose even one. He doesn't even have any loose ones. I mentioned it to the dentist, but he didn't seem concerned. I'm sure they will come out when they are ready, but poor Conner is not happy about it.

Caleb is 8. He is doing great in school as well. He is my little evangelist - always telling his friends about Jesus. Actually, all the kids do! I love it!! They are certainly not ashamed, and I hope that stays with them forever! He loves sports, and is always ready to play any game. The boys are going to play basketball this summer for the Y.

Well, I think that's enough for one night. Don't want to overload you with too much info in one night. But I'm going to try to blog more - how often do I say that??

long overdue

I can't believe the last time I posted was May. Oops. Guess I've been slacking - big time!! So, I will try to catch up on what's been going on. Let's start with the kids:

Madison is out of the cast!! She is in a hip abduction brace that keeps her legs as far apart as they can go. It's to keep her hip pushed into the socket to allow the bone to fully develop in the socket and therefore stay in place. She is allowed out of the brace for 3 hours a day. She will have another check up in February. At her last check (in October) the doctor was disappointed in her bone growth. :( He said we aren't back at square one (that's another surgery), just not as far along as he had hoped. So hopefully in February there will be a lot of progress.

Megan is in Kindergarten now. She only goes half day, but I'm happy with that. We get to spend the morning together, then her afternoons are at school. She's doing great! She played soccer for the Y in the fall.

Conner is in first grade. He got glasses last week. He looks so cute in them!! He had his eyes checked at school, and they sent home a note saying he needed a follow up with an eye dr. I asked him if he could see the chart at school, and he said "no, they made it too small to see." lol So now that he has glasses, he's realizing what he was missing out on before. Conner played flag football this fall. He had a bad coach and even worse assistant coach. I really wish I would have pulled him early in the season, but we stuck it out. We will NOT be requesting that coach again!

Caleb is in third grade - how is that possible??!! He is getting a "Reflections" award tomorrow night. This is a school-wide contest, and I am so proud of him!! He also played flag football, and has decided that he loves football. He is all about football now - watching it, playing it, etc. He is so cute!! He wants to be Sam Bradford. (OU quarterback before getting injured)

Chris was gone another 7 weeks this summer for Army training. It was easier this time. We were ready for it this time. He's back to taking seminary classes, so he stays very busy. We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary as youth pastor at our church this week. Very exciting!!

I'm pretty much the same. I'm teaching a different Beth Moore study at church right now. We are doing A Woman's Heart - God's Dwelling Place. It is so good, but I expected nothing less from Beth Moore. :)

We are welcoming the Christmas season!! We had to get a new tree this year, but that was expected. It's up and decorated. The rest of the house needs work, but at least the tree is up. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! This is my favorite time of year!!! I look forward to this month all year!! So excited!!!

Ok, that's our update for now. I will try to do better about blogging here. Love you guys!!